Sam Carlson's Blog

Thinking errors in coaching and healthcare – part 2

In part 1 of this blog series, I introduced the problem of thinking errors or “cognitive errors” in both coaching and clinical decision making. The shortcuts or “heuristics” we all use to reach conclusions are hard to overcome, perhaps because they do serve a useful purpose. For example, when we hear footsteps coming up behind us at night we’re immediately on alert without even thinking about it. The smell of coffee in the morning tells us there’s a pot brewing in the kitchen.

Thinking errors in coaching and healthcare

A while back, I was coaching a kaizen workshop on a clinical process in which information technology (IT) had been a big constraint and source of frustration. As part of our standard work after kaizen training, the team goes out on a “waste walk,” returns with their observations, and then posts them on a “waste wheel.” As his contribution, one of the clinical leaders wrote on a yellow sticky note “IT is a barrier to this process” and handed it to the team leader to put on the waste wheel.